Community participation in higher education service learning

Abstract

As a point of entry to local communities the curricular form of community engagement referred to as “service learning” has gained prominence in South African higher education institutions over the past decade. Thus far research on service learning has mostly been conducted to gauge student development and learning outcomes, while outcomes for community participants have received less attention. This article reports on research into the outcomes of a specific service learning module by involving community members as research participants. Suggestions are made for ensuring that participants from local communities play a more active role in their own empowerment through transformative service learning interactions with university students, lecturers and other participants.